Bookmarker



July 9, 1957 J, JONES T 2,798,453

BOOKMARKER Filed June 1, 1955 2s v 28 324 30 BI/ l6 L -H2 H JACK 'E. JONJES' JOE o. JONES FIG. 5 INVENTORS.

ATTO NEY United States Patent BOOKMARKER' JackE. Jones and Joe D; Jones, High PoinhN. C.

Application June 1, 1955, SerialNo. 512,539

6 Claims; (Cl.l16--1=19) This invention relates to bookmarkers and more particularlyto compact bookmarker provided with individual retractable. indexing indicia that may be positioned in a predetermined sequential order to facilitate referencing. A related bookmarker is illustrated in our'U. SL Patent No; 2,645,197, issuedlon July. 14; 1953'.

Previously the bookmarkersemployed by preachers, lecturers, research scholars,.lawyers, and others using a standard. reference work having employed flexible cords or other fixed length dividing elements which" have on many occasions becomev entangled, twisted; and in general, unwieldy in use. Furthermore, it is not impossible with the bookmarker described? in the above patent .or. other bookmarkers to provide for a suflicient number of reference' markers without making the apparatus cumber some and awkward to use.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention-to providea bookmarker havinga plurality ofindividual resilient flexible book page separating cords that. areindividually retractable into one end of. the bookmarker when the cords are not. in use.

Another object ofthe present invention is the provision of a bookmarker that may be readily att'achedlto a book spine, either of the open or tight back binding type, and is also provided. with aset of individual elastic flexible book page separating elements, each ofWhich may be extended to engage Within a keeper in orderto indicate a place within the book in a predetermined order and upon release from the keeper the individual cord is re.-' tracted into the b'ookmarker.

Still another object of the present invention is to pro vide a hookmarke'r withaplurality of individually engageable pageseparating elements that are extended when in use so as to be'received within a suitable keeperin a desired sequential orderan'dupon releaseof an individual element it will be retracted automaticallyinto the bOOk-r marker.

Yet. another object of the present inventionds the provisionofabookmarker that is readily attachableto a book and in which there is a plurality of individualfiexible and resilient page separating elementsthat are individually accommodated in a suitable recess'and maybearranged in rows within the recess.

Further objects ofthis invention are .to provide a bookmarker that is readily attachable to andzd'etachable from a. book,, one that is easy and simple to operate andrequires a minimum of maintenance.

Other and further objects and many of the attendant advantages-of this inventionwillbecome readily-apparent as the invention becomes better understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with tlie accompanying. drawingsinlwhiclr like characters of reference designate corresponding;partsathroughout the several VlCWSl. and. wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention per se illustrating the bookmarker with a plurality of individual retractable page separating elements in the retracted position;

2,798,453 Patented July 9, 195.1

Fig. 2 is a-reduced vertical sectional view taken substantially along theplane of line-2.-2 of Fig. 1 andilluse tratesthe invention attached to a book spinewith several. individual page separating elements in two :indeXing tiers;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bookmarker of the present invention, somewhat reduced inusize,-.as mounted to the spine of a book illustrating the instrumentwith a" plurality of the page separating. elements inv extended. position in an open book;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a. bookmarker. mounted to. the spine of abook having. an opened backbook bind! ing with the book in the closedpositicn;

Fig, Sis a transversesectional viewtakensubstantially along theplane of line.55 ofFig. l.

Referring to the drawings in moredetail andspecifically. to Figs. 1 and 21 there is illustrated therein a. bookmarker 1010f the present invention which comprisesaa telescopie cally extendible book page separating :cord receiver 11. that may be attached readily by a suitable fastening means. 12 to a book adjacent tothe book spine, and at oneend of-tl'ie. bookmarker there is provided a. plurality of elastic flexible book page separating elements or cords 13: that are individually extendible between the pages. of. a book to engage within a selected notch within. the group; of. notches. 14 that are cut in the plate 15.

The cord receiver housing 11 is preferably. formed: from asuitable rigid: material thathas a hollow longitudinal axis toform a protective casing that surrounds thetcords 131. Although in the embodiment-illustrated the receiver. 11.is adjustable lengthwise sothat the. book-marker-"maybeaccommodated to several book sizes, an integral. receiver may be used as efiectively' for standard. length volumes. Top and bottom fastening lugs 16 and 17 pm? ject outwardlya suitable distance from the receiver'to retain and guide the fastening rod 18 and rod receiver 19; respectively, which parts may be separated in orden to mountthe bookmarker to the spine 20 of atboole 21,. as illustrated clearly in Figs. 2 to 4. It will be readily ap-: parent that other fastening means may be. suitable for mounting thebookrnarker to either the spine of aabook or. to. anotherv position adjacent to thebook spine.

Fastened, as by the screw 22 to the: lower endof the receiver. housing is; the plate 15which is providediwith a straight portion 23, a first plane surface 24 and aisecond planesurface 25. The surfaces 24 and 25. aredesigned to extend inwardly towardthe book and theseplanes may be referred to hereinafter as indicia planes; the: purpose for these. planes will be described hereinafter. The series oflaterally spaced opened notches 14 arecut into the plate and preferably reach through the indicia planes 2.4. and.25..

Also fastened to the screw 22 is a cord clamping jrneans 26.-t-o which is fastened one end 27 of each of the;plu-. ralityof flexible and resilient or elastic page separating cords13. The lengthof e'achelastic cord, in thearelaxed condition, is approximately the length of the; receiver: in the closed or non-extended position. The free end; of each cord'istprovided with. a notch engaging key 28 that is" securely fastened. to the. cord. end so that when/the; dividual cords are extended to pass between the? book pages 29 to mark'a'positionwithin the booktthekey 28 may be inserted into the desiredplatenotch for retention therein.

It has been found suitable to employ short tubular sleeves for the notch engaging keys ZS sothat-a cord end may be inserted into the sleeve and then the sleeve is compressed at one end: 30 to retain the cord" therein. This'sleeve' then: serves as the notch engaging key" for inserting or removing each cord from engagement with the apppropriate plate notch.

Spaced separators 31 may be mounted. in the top of :J the receiver in order to divide the cords into groups so that they will not become entangled and will provide for greater cord accessibility when the instrument is ready for use.

Although in the embodiment above described the page separating cords are made from elastic or other resilient material so that each cord may be individually retractable into the receiver housing, it is intended for illustrative purposes only and not for limitation since individual spring loaded roller elements, or the like, may be used in combination with a flexible cord connected to each roller element in order to retract the cord ends individually as they are disengaged from a plate notch.

The plate indicia planes 24 and 25 are set at suitable angles from the straight portion 23 providing rows or tiers which will accommodate a maximum number of cords positioned Within the limitations of the width of a book. In this Way the width of the plate is reduced appreciably thus making the bookmarker less conspicuous.

The bookmarker may be attached readily to the spine of a book having an open type binding 33 simply by slidably disengaging the rod 18 from Within the rod receiver 19 and inserting the open end or top 32 of the receiver between the book spine and the open back binding of an open book. The rod receiver may be positioned approximately in the center of the open book then the receiver is telescopically extended to the correct position adjacent to the book spine. The rod 18 is inserted into the rod receiver 19 to be fricti'onally retained therein.

With the bookmarker mounted in position on the book an individual cord 13 may be extended from Within the receiver housing and placed between the pages of a book in which a selected passage appears, preferably in a reverse order of reference, and the attached notch engaging key 28 may be inserted into a selected plate notch 14 in the desired sequence. The last passages to be referred to are positioned first and the keys to be referred to last are arranged to engage the notches in the first plane surface 24, the remaining keys are then positioned in order on the second plane surface 25. The portion of the cords adjacent the keys may be crossed or placed over one another with the uppermost cord being removable first from Within a notch to indicate the first reference passage before the next succeeding uppermost c'ord is removed from its corresponding notch position.

When the bookmarker is to be attached to a tight back type book binding the receiver may be mounted flush to the binding and book spine and the fastening means is attached substantially as described above.

Obviously many modifications and variations may be made in the construction of the bookmarker, the cord receiver housing and the bockniarker fastening means as Well as the elastic book page separating members without departing from the real spirit and purpose of this invention. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims many modified forms of structure as well as use of mechanical equivalents may be reasonably included and therefore modifications are contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A bookmarker comprising an elongated cord receiver housing having means thereon for attachment to a book spine, a plate mounted on one end of the receiver housing and having a plurality of spaced notches therein, flexible resilient page separating cords attached at one end to the other end of the receiver housing from the plate and having means at the free end of each cord to engage within a plate notch in the cord extended condition, said oords being retractable into the receiver housing in the relaxed condition when released from a plate notch.

2. A bookmarker comprising an elongated cord receiver housing having means thereon for attachment to a book spine, a plate mounted on one end of the receiver housing and having a plurality of spaced notches therein, elastic page separating cords attached at one end to the other end of the receiver housing from the plate and having means at the free end to engage within a plate notch in the cord extended condition, said cords being retractable into the receiver housing in the relaxed condition.

3. A bookmarker comprising an adjustable telescoping cord receiver housing provided with means for attachment to a book spine, a plate having laterally spaced notches mounted at one end of the receiver housing, a plurality of flexible resilient book page separating cords secured atone end to the receiver housing and retractable therein, each of said cords being provided with a notch engaging key to be selectively positioned in an extended condition in a plate notch in sequential order and upon release from a notch a cord will be retracted into the receiver housing.

4. A bookmarker comprising an adjustable elongated cord receiver provided with means for mounting the receiver housing to a book and having upper and lower ends and an opening at the upper end, a plurality of elastic flexible book page separating cords fastened in the receiver housing and retractable through the opening in the receiver housing, each of said cords having a notch engaging key at the free end, a plate mounted at the lower end of the receiver housing provided with key receiving notches to receive the cord engaging keys individually in a predetermined order in the cord extended condition.

5. A bookmarker comprising a telescopically elongatable receiver housing having a substantially hollow longitudinal core and provided With means for mounting the receiver housing to a book spine, a plate mounted adjacent to one end of the receiver housing, said plate having a plurality of indicia planes therein to form individual rows and a group of laterally spaced key retaining notches therein, at least one of said notches extending continuously into said planes, a plurality of flexible and resilient book page separating elements secured at one end to the receiver housing and retractable therein, each of said cords being provided with a notch engaging key at the free end to be selectively positioned through the pages of a book in an extended condition to engage within a plate notch in sequential order at a plane position and whereby upon release of an element from a plate notch said cord is retractable into the receiver housing.

6. A bookmarker comprising an elongatable receiver housing having a substantially hollow longitudinal core and provided with means for mounting the receiver housing to a book spine, a plate mounted adjacent to one end of the receiver housing, said plate having a plurality of indicia planes therein to form individual rows and a group of laterally spaced key retaining notches therein, at least one of said notches extending continuously through substantially all the indicia planes, a plurality of elastic flexible book page separating elements retained at one end to the receiver housing, each of said cords being provided with a notch engaging key to be selectively positioned through the pages of a book in an extended condition to engage Within a plate notch in sequential order at a desired plane position and whereby upon release of an element from a plate notch said cord is retractable automatically into the receiver housing.

'References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 139,936 Ward et a1 June 17, 1873 2,539,687 Barsotti Jan. 30, 1951 2,645,197 Jones July 14, 1953 

